


Truth of Lies

by therutherfordwife



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, F/M, One-Shot Collection, there was too much angst so I had to
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 10:22:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11965416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therutherfordwife/pseuds/therutherfordwife
Summary: When Tali woke up that morning, it was to a beautiful sunrise illuminating the peaceful faces of her wife and child. By that evening, however, Natalia was dead and Shaun was missing, taken by the very men that murdered her wife before her eyes. As Tali struggles to put the crushed pieces of herself and her home back together, can she find happiness in the wasteland that took everything from her?





	Truth of Lies

_Stumbling into the light hadn’t been nearly as disorienting as the smell that assaulted her as she left the vault. The air smelled like . . . rust. Rust, and dust, and the stale humidity that hung about in late summer. None of the crispness of autumn that had marked the morning they’d run for the vault._

_Shaun. She had to find Shaun._

_Her home still stood, by some miracle she would never understand, and she’d collapsed in a corner of Shaun’s bedroom as a storm of green clouds descending upon the world, lightning flashing brilliantly in the dark mist that engulfed everything. She could see it all through the holes in the wall and the roof. Holes due to an incredible passage of time, holes of mold and rot marring the new home she’d been so proud of . . . yesterday morning. Yesterday morning, years ago._

_Nat was dead. Shaun was gone. Her entire world was gone. Was there even anybody left? Was she the only survivor? How long would she last before the radiation alone killed her?_

_She curled in her corner by the cradle and wept._

 

_Not today, you fucking beanie baby from hell. Drop the damn eyeliner already!_

It wasn’t that the radroach was particularly vicious, or that she wasn’t entirely capable of killing the scrambling creature that flitted through the debris. The problem was that if she shot it, she might accidentally hit the small bag stuck to it’s leg. A bag she’d carelessly tossed onto a nearby table, only to turn around to find _this_ thing scuttling away with it. She wanted to scream; finding the makeup had been a miracle on par with her finding that stash of tampons in the library. No way was she about to risk putting a bullet through that tube of mascara.

The clang of a blade striking stone echoed through the crunch of the roach’s shell bursting, and Tali rounded the corner to find Deacon wiping off his knife. “Please tell me I did not just kill that roach just so you could collect more of that pre-war junk you’re so obsessed with?”

“I put up with a lot of things about this place,” Tali ignored the memory as she swiped the bag from the dead roach’s foot. “But makeup is art, Deacon. Besides, this is nothing compared to me fighting off that yao guai the other day so you could mod that ridiculous gun of yours.”

“Ridiculous?” he sputtered good naturedly. “Fair point though. Guess we’re even for now.”

She snorted. “As even as a radroach is even with a yao guai? Nice try, Dee, but you still owe me.”

“That’s harsh, Whisper.”

“I -” 

Gunfire erupted nearby. Too close. She and Deacon both whipped around, guns drawn and ready. A frantic voice broke through the static of her radio. _"Automated message repeating: This is Scribe Haylen of recognisance squad Gladius to any unit within transmission range. Authorization Arx Ferrum 9-5. Our unit has sustained casualties, and we’re running low on supplies. We’re requesting support or evac from our position at Cambridge police station."_

Tali and Deacon locked eyes. Tali gave a curt nod, and the two took off running toward the gunfire. “You know, sometimes I’m pretty sure you’re insane!” Deacon panted. “I don’t know what’s worse; that you insist on running _towards_ every bit of trouble we find, or the fact that I follow you anyway.”

“Guess that makes you the crazy one!” she threw over her shoulder without slowing. 

They burst into the square outside the police station and Tali was slammed to the side instantly by something snarling and unexpectedly strong. _Ghouls!_ she had time to think before the crack of a shot burst the creature’s head open. Deacon hauled her to her feet and they ducked behind the makeshift fortifications that had been set up in front of the station.

“How many?” she asked as she shook her head clear from the impact. _Idiot!_ she berated herself. _Can’t let your guard down, not ever!_

“Waves, too many to count.”

“Friendlies?”

“Two, power armor guy and pistol lady. Next wave incoming!”

Tali hefted her shotgun, letting the familiar weight settle her nerves. Of everything she’d dealt with, seen, and experienced since walking into that vault, nothing even compared to ghouls. They were like something out of a pre-war horror flick, the kind she’d loved to watch with Nate and laugh about how unrealistic it all was. Now her favorite horror story was her worst nightmare. Didn’t do anything to help that the buggers were _fast._

Her ring still sparkled against the metal of the gun, a little duller than it had those months ago. Feral snarls grew louder, and she allowed herself a small bitter sigh before rising and facing the oncoming horde. Everything became a blur of flashing guns and screaming ghouls, darting shadows illuminated briefly by the searchlights only to disappear again an instant later. At one point, a grunt behind her brought her whipping around, shotgun raised, finger ready on the trigger -

And faced a man, towering in power armor, eyes wide with surprise even as his own laser rifle was aimed at her head. He’d lost his helmet somewhere, revealing his strong features, tight with worry. For a moment time seemed to stop; then a movement behind him drew Tali’s attention, and without hesitating she twisted under his raised arm and blasted the feral that jumped for his back. She held back the gag as pieces of the man’s - the _thing’s_ head splattered across her jacket. 

The next minutes were a blur of moans, shrieks, and exploding appendages interspersed with gunfire and brilliant flashes of red from the armored man’s gun. Tali barely even realized that the gunfire was dwindling, the red flashes coming further and further apart as exhaustion chipped away at her.

Deacon held a water bottle in front of her face and she dropped out of her adrenaline rush. She took it gratefully and drank eagerly before deciding the waste of half a bottle of clean water was worth getting some of the gore off her face. Dee smirked at her and mouthed something about ‘hot and wet’ at her; she flicked a stray piece of _something_ off her shoulder at him. He just laughed and shook his head.

“We appreciate the assistance, civilian, but I must ask what your business is here.”

Tali couldn’t help it; she laughed. The armored man stood before her, strategically placed between her and the police station where she could see the other woman from the fight disappearing with . . . another man? Wounded, by the looks of things.

The fighter seemed offended. “Can I ask what’s so funny?”

_No sense of humor. The more things change, the more they stay the same._ That there were still people masquerading around in old military armors talking about ‘civilians’ and ‘support and evac’ for ‘units’ was hysterical, really. If her father could see what had become of his precious army . . . “Post-fight stress laugh,” she evaded. “You guys ok? I saw your girl helping her friend into the station, you gonna need a hand with anything? I got extra stimpacks and some medigel.”

He hesitated. “We would appreciate the supplies, yes, but you didn’t answer my question.”

“Got the distress signal, heard the gunfire, came to help.” Tali shrugged. “Seemed like the thing to do.”

“This is the Commonwealth. Help does not come because it ‘Seemed like the thing to do’. Where are you from?”

Ah. The Question. Deacon tensed beside her, ready to jump to her defense if he reacted poorly to her answer. It drove him crazy how she insisted on honesty. “Vault 111.”

His eyes widened. “A Vault Dweller?” he asked, almost . . . reverently. He seemed to relax instantly, and she felt Dee do the same beside her. “Most people won’t admit to such a thing. I appreciate your honesty.”

Tali warmed to him instantly. Such manners! Handsome man in armor, good manners, good with a gun . . . now if only he had a sense of humor. Shame, that. “If I appear suspicious, it’s because our mission here has been difficult,” he continued. “Since the moment we’ve arrived in the Commonwealth we’ve been constantly under fire. If you want to continue pitching in, we could use an extra gun on our side.”

She stared at him. “You just went from questioning my help to offering me a job? Moving pretty fast there, Shiny, you sure want me to jump on board that quick?” Though, come to think of it, Preston had moved even faster. From the way the Castle was looking, at least that seemed to have turned out for the best.

A twitch at one corner of his mouth. The man wasn’t made of steel after all. “I’m Paladin Danse, Brotherhood of Steel.” Or maybe he was. What the hell was the Brotherhood of Steel? “Scribe Haylen and Knight Rhys just went inside. We’re on recon duty, but I’m down several men and our supplies are running low. I’ve been trying to send a distress call to my superiors, but the signal is too weak to reach them.”

Again with the military talk! Whatever this ‘Brotherhood’ was, it definitely seemed to be trying to emulate the pre-war army, but no matter what, the best it could be was a child in it’s father’s shoes. Entertaining for her to see, if nothing else. “Sounds like you need a radio boost,” she smiled sweetly. “Let’s go inside, Shiny, and we’ll start figuring things out.”

She brushed past him without another word. “Shiny?” she heard the Paladin ask Deacon.

“Just go with it, Paladin. Least it’s better than ‘Shades’.”


End file.
